 |
| Nutritionist and Author |
by Melissa Diane Smith
Quiz yourself with these eleven True-False questions.
Many of us have heard the term, GMOs. But how much do you really know about them, their health risks, and how to avoid them? There’s no better time than now, National Non-GMO Month, to find out. Take our quiz and test your knowledge, then pass the test onto others to raise awareness about this timely topic.
by Melissa Diane Smith
(Opinion) – After four years of inactivity on the matter, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reopened a public comment period for its proposal about labeling foods as “gluten-free” and said it aims to publish a final rule and start allowing official gluten-free labeling in the third quarter of 2012. Members of the gluten-free community around the country are excited about this development with many thinking gluten-free labeling approved and monitored by the FDA will automatically protect them from unwanted exposure to gluten. But will it?
by Melissa Diane Smith
The USDA recently approved genetically modified (GM), Roundup-Ready alfalfa without any conditions and did an end-run around the courts to keep GM sugar beets growing. Both decisions were upsetting news for all of us wanting safe, uncontaminated food. But the two decisions came with a positive consequence.
“The prolonged alfalfa and sugar beet fights actually elevated GMOs (genetically modified organisms) on our personal and national radar screens,” says leading non-GMO advocate Jeffrey M. Smith. “Now with millions of us grasping the significance and devastating loss of yet another crop, we have the pieces in place for a national revolution. We have the knowledge, the emotion, the network, and the profound injustice.” All we need now is focused action. And focused action is exactly what is happening.
by Melissa Diane Smith
Would you like to explore the world of gluten-free living? Would you like to get a copy of my new book personally autographed by me? Or, if you know you’re sensitive to gluten (found in wheat, rye, and barley), would you like to go to an event where you can sample good food, have fun, and relax knowing all the foods there are gluten free?
If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you’re in luck. The Annual Gluten Free Food Faire, a special day of health information and food sampling including a book signing by me, will take place on Saturday, April 30th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Palo Verde, 4550 S. Palo Verde Rd., in Tucson, Ariz.
by Melissa Diane Smith
I absolutely loved this sign that I saw while walking the show floor at the natural foods convention, Natural Products Expo West! As you probably know, I’ve been writing for quite some time about how gluten-free junk food is making people who eat gluten free fat and unhealthy. In fact, getting that message out to more people is a big reason that I started this blog (see my original story “The Gluten-Free Diet – A Recipe for Unhealthy Weight Gain?”). It’s also one of the main reasons for my new book, Gluten Free Throughout the Year: A Two-Year, Month-to-Month Guide for Healthy Eating.
If the National Restaurant Association’s “What’s Hot in 2011” survey of more than 1,500 professional chefs is any indication, 2011 will be a very good year for people who eat against the grain. Local food, sustainable meat and seafood, healthier children’s meals, and gluten-free cuisine will be among the hottest trends on restaurant menus in 2011.
Photo Credit: National Restaurant Association
The top ten menu trends this year are predicted to be:
by Melissa Diane Smith
Religiously avoiding foods that contain high-fructose corn syrup? You’ll also need to watch out for foods that contain corn sugar, a change in name that appears to be coming and means the same thing.
My new book Gluten Free Throughout the Year received high marks in two new book reviews by correspondents who regularly write about gluten-free living and gluten-free books. One appeared on About.com, a part of The New York Times Company, and the other appeared on Examiner.com.
Here are excerpts from the About.com review by Teri Gruss:
I am very pleased to announce the release of my new book, Gluten Free Throughout the Year: A Two-Year, Month-to-Month Guide for Healthy Eating. I wrote the book as a companion guide to Going Against the Grain for the many people who asked for it. The primary focus is to help people on a gluten-free diet, but it’s also useful for people who want to lose weight or who follow a reduced-carbohydrate diet. Below is a summary of the information in the book followed by quick answers to several questions I am asked most often about the book by my clients and readers.
_______________________________________
Eating gluten free at picnics, while traveling, when you’re sick, and during holidays. All this and more is covered in the first ever gluten-free book of its kind, Gluten Free Throughout the Year. The book has:
by Melissa Diane Smith
Three types of genetically modified (GM) corn that have been approved for human consumption have been linked to organ damage in mammals, according to a new study.
Researchers from the Committee of Research and Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN) and the Universities of Caen and Rouen in France analyzed data that had been previously obtained to assess the effects on various organs in rats of three approved types of GM corn eaten for just 90 days. The corn varieties studied were NK 603, which had been genetically engineered to tolerate Roundup herbicide, and MON 810 and MON 863, which had been genetically engineered to produce two new insecticides. According to the researchers, these types of GM corn are potentially eaten by billions of people and animals worldwide.